The Aurors Final Moments
by Leville
Summary: A brief look at the last moments of three characters before they died off page in Deathly Hallows- where they were, what they were thinking, what they regretted most about leaving behind. Rated T for some violence and mild language.


**Mad-Eye:**

The wind whipped Mad-Eye's dark gray hair away from his face as he took off from the ground. Once again, he bitterly wished that they could just Apparate or take a Portkey. Brooms left you too vulnerable. Not to mention, his current passenger was less than ideal.

"WATCH WHERE YOU PUT THOSE HANDS!" he barked.

Immediately, Mundungus Fletcher released his hold on Mad-Eye's middle.

"Well, what the ruddy hell do you expect me to hold on to?" he complained. "It's not like I can grab hold of the broom. In case you haven't noticed, your great backside takes up the whole front!"

"Would you shut up?" Mad-Eye shouted over the roaring wind. They were miles above the ground now. Nearly everyone had taken off in different directions. He could still occasionally spot Bill Weasley with the Potter version of his fiancée on that ridiculous Thestral. "It's more than an hour flight to my house and it'll go a lot quicker if you keep silent."

To Mad-Eye's surprise, Mundungus became still and quiet. Thank God. Mad-Eye pulled the handle of the broom up and they shot towards the sky. Mad-Eye wove in and out of the clouds, his eyes long-trained to scan as much as possible and pick up on any signs of trouble.

Then he heard it. The screams. They had only taken off a few minutes ago, but Mad-Eye had been sure that was all it would take for them to be discovered.

He turned the broom around, wand already in his hand. "_Stupefy_!" he shouted. The stunned Death Eater slid off his broom. His body fell with an awkward grace, like a puppet cut from its strings.

"M-M-Mad-Eye," Mundungus stuttered. He pointed at something slightly to the right of them. Mad-Eye swiveled his magical eye over in that direction.

After everything he had seen, he never imagined this. Voldemort himself flying right towards them. Without a broom or winged horse.

Mad-Eye changed direction again. Mundungus screamed. "MAD-EYE!"

Mad-Eye raised his wand. "Get your wand out, you idiot!" he shouted. "We've got to hold him off!"

"ARE YOU MAD?!" bellowed Mundungus as Voldemort headed towards them. Voldemort raised his wand, pointing it straight at Mundungus. He laughed a high-pitched, cruel laugh. He believed that he had caught Harry Potter at last.

Mad-Eye felt a dim sense of satisfaction at tricking Voldemort. Not a bad last act, was it? For Mad-Eye was sure this was it. But that didn't mean he was going down without a fight.

"I didn't sign up to die!" screeched Mundungus as a jet of green light headed towards them. Before Mad-Eye could fly them out of the way, Mundungus Disapparated.

Mad-Eye swore. "You cowardly-!"

The last thing he saw was a jet of bright green light.

_Damn you, Mundungus. Damn you._

Mad-Eye's crumpled, broken body lay on the ground for hours before they came.

A small group of men—four of them- dressed in black cloaks approached, laughing and jeering at the dead Auror. Death Eaters.

One of them knelt beside the body. A loud squelching sound announced that the man had popped out Mad-Eye's magical eye.

"Look at this!" he exclaimed laughing. He held the magical eye up to his own. "Weird. You can see through it."

"Stop being an idiot," said the second man. "We've got to get rid of the body."

"What should we do with it?" asked the third man. "Burn it? Cut it up in to little pieces?"

"I'll handle it," said the fourth man suddenly. "I had my own quarrel with Mad-Eye Moody. Since I couldn't be the one to kill him, I'll deal with disposing the body."

"What quarrel did you have with him?" laughed the second man.

"Can I keep this bit of him?" said the first man, still playing with the eyeball.

"Fine, whatever," the fourth man snapped. "As for my quarrel, it's none of your business. Just go report to the Dark Lord that I'm handling this."

"All right," said the third one. "You've got it."

The first three men Disapparated. Once the fourth man was absolutely positive he was alone, he lowered his hood.

Severus Snape glanced down at Mad-Eye, taking one last look before he Transfigured the Auror into a Sneakoscope. It was the most fitting form that Snape could think of.

Using his wand, he buried the Mad-Eye Sneakoscope far into the ground. Snape stood there for a moment, wondering if he should do something else. He hesitated, and then repeated a line he had heard at a funeral nearly sixteen years ago. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

At a loss for what to do next, Snape Disapparated.

**Scrimgeour:**

Rufus Scrimgeour dropped the report he was reading. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He could hear footsteps outside his door. He reached for his wand just as the door to his office banged open and men barged through. He saw familiar faces, people who he worked with everyday. But their eyes were different. The Imperious Curse.

There were too many of them. Escape was impossible. There was just too many of them to get past. He saw at least seven, and there were probably more out in the corridor. Too many, too many, too many. And he was too old.

Scrimgeour grabbed his wand anyway, only to have it ripped out of his hand by a Disarming Charm. The force of the spell knocked him off his feet.

Before he knew it, someone had him by the throat.

"Harry Potter." The voice was filled with such loathing that Scrimgeour didn't even recognize it. "You know where he is. TELL US! Tell us where Potter is and we will spare your life."

"I don't," Scrimgeour managed to say in a strangled whisper, "know where he is." He choked. "Sorry."

"Liar. LIAR! You just delivered the items from Dumbledore's will to him."

"I was supposed to," Scrimgeour wheezed. "But I couldn't find him…" He struggled for breath as his former employee tightened his hold around Scrimgeour's neck. "I couldn't find him. He's too well protected." It was a pathetic lie, and of course they saw through it. But it was the only thing Scrimgeour could think to do.

Scrimgeour could hear the others make their way into his office. He heard drawers being opened, papers being scattered. They would find the answers they were looking for shortly. The man let Scrimgeour go.

"_Crucio_!" shouted the man.

Scrimgeour shouted as every nerve in his body felt like it was set on fire. They didn't need to hold him down now.

"_Now_ do you remember where Harry Potter is?" asked someone else's voice.

"NOOO!" screamed Scrimgeour. "I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! Please…"

Tears streamed down Scrimgeour's face as he convulsed in agony. "I don't know where Potter is. I don't know. I don't know." His arms and legs flailed hopelessly and he continued to yell. Scrimgeour tore at his hair and started clawing at his own face as he screamed.

Blinking through the blood in his eyes, a shadow fell across Scrimgeour. It raised a wand and whispered, "Avada Kedavra."

Scrimgeour's final thought was:

_Potter was right_.

**Tonks:**

"NO!" Tonks' scream was heart wrenching as she watched her husband fall. "No!" she repeated, but this time without the volume. Hearing Tonks' scream, Dolohov laughed, he pointed his wand at her and cast a curse at her.

Tonks missed, but barely. Dolohov ran out of the room, but Tonks didn't follow him. She was too busy staring at Remus- scratches on his face, his hair hung in his still open eyes. A look of determination in his face.

Tonks dropped to her knees beside Remus. "Remus! Remus!" Her voice broke as she repeated his name over and over. "Please, Remus!" She knew it was no use.

He couldn't hear her anymore.

Tonks held his hand in hers and slumped forward sobbing. Not just for Remus, but for her father, for Dirk Cresswell, for Mad-Eye, for Scrimgeour, for Sirius, for Dumbledore and Charity Burbage, and all the others who had lost their lives to this madness. When she signed up to be an Auror, she had thought of it as an adventure, a way to bring about justice. She had never imagined this.

War.

And death. So much death.

She cried still harder for Teddy who would grow up without knowing his father, her mother who would live without the husband for whom she had given up her family, for all those who would have to carry on without those they loved most.

"Tonks, dear," said a soft voice. Tonks refused to open her eyes. She clutched Remus' hand tighter. "Come on now. You can't stay here, Tonks."

Arthur Weasley. So kind and so thoughtful. And wonderfully bright and optimistic. This battle seemed the wrong place for him.

"You have to keep on keeping on," Arthur encouraged.

Tonks brought Remus' hands to her lips. Then with great difficulty, she set his hand down. She ran her fingers over his face one last time, shutting his eyes so she could take a moment to pretend he was just sleeping.

She stood up.

"Good man… er, I mean woman," said Arthur, his ears turning red. "That's right."

They had barely taken a step when they heard a familiar, maniacal laugh.

"Such a shame. Didn't even make a one year anniversary."

"Auntie Bellatrix," said Tonks. She wanted to sound cool and unconcerned. She just sounded dull and lifeless. "What a surprise."

"Enough with the pleasantries, Nymphadora." She raised her wand. "My sister needs to be taught a lesson about what happened when you marry beneath you."

A spell went shooting across the room, Arthur forced Tonks' head down. Undaunted, Bellatrix shot another spell, this time pointed at Arthur. Tonks pushed him out of the way. No more fathers were going to die tonight.

Arthur fell to the ground, but unharmed, as Tonks jabbed her wand at Bellatrix. "DON'T!" Tonks shouted. A slash appeared on Bellatrix's face. "CALL ME!" Another cut materialized on Bellatrix's cheek. "NYMPHADORA!"

Bellatrix looked positively stunned. She touched her face where she had been cut by Tonks' spells. Her face contorted with rage. "You little half breed-bitch!" shouted Bellatrix. "Avada Kedavra!"

_No! Teddy!_ Tonks silently screamed as she fell. Even though she was alone, she could have sworn she felt two familiar pairs of hands take her own.

She hears a familiar voice, _I've got you, Dora. It's all right. I've got you…. _We_'ve got you_.

_I'm sorry, Teddy. I'm so sorry. Teddy. Teddy. _

Notes:

Sooooo. I don't really know where this came from. But I just was sort of curious as to what happened when these three died, so I put my imagination to work.

I had Snape be the one to burry Mad-Eye because I couldn't stand the thought of the Death Eaters doing anything to him. =/ But of course they took his eyeball, so I had to throw that in there… And for quoting that line from the Potter's grave, I'm sure Lily and James had some type of funeral and I could just picture Snape hovering in the back, not actually attending, but close enough to hear Lily be put to rest.

I don't really have much to say for Scrimgeour, but I'm positive is last thoughts were how sorry he was about not listening to Harry.

At the end of Tonks' part, I like to think she felt her dad and Remus take her hands and she hears her dad's voice saying he's got her and then adds a "We" for Remus as he comes to terms with the fact that his little girl is married.

Whether this is because Tonks hallucinates it or because there's something else after death, is your call. I prefer the latter, personally.


End file.
